U.S.

Fish & Wildlife Service

Proposed Missouri
Headwaters Conservation
Area

USFWS
Building on decades of success
working with private landowners
in Montana, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service is proposing
to establish the Missouri
Headwaters Conservation Area
in southwest Montana. This area
of Montana is known regionally
and nationally for its significant
biological resources. Across this
landscape, the large working
ranches and rural character
play a vital role in conserving fish
and wildlife habitat.

Agricultural lands in western

Montana are being lost to
residential and commercial
development or converted to
other non-agricultural uses.
Such development tends to
fragment habitat and erodes
the agricultural land base that is
important for wildlife populations
across the state. Proposed Missouri Headwaters Conservation Area

What is being proposed?

If the Missouri Headwaters
Conservation Area is created,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
would work with willing sellers
to acquire up to a proposed
250,000 acres of conservation
easements within the proposed
5.7-million-acre Conservation
Area boundary (see map).
Conservation easements
protect wildlife habitat while
also protecting open space
and working lands into the
future to help preserve the rural
way of life, including ranching.
Acquisition of conservation
easements would be voluntary
and would occur over time
as funds are available and
allocated.
Money from the federal Land
and Water Conservation Fund
would be used, as available,
to purchase easements within
the Conservation Area. These
funds are derived from federal
offshore oil and gas leasing
and are not taxpayer dollars. No
fee-title acquisition would be
authorized.
How would the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service easement
program work?
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
easements are designed to
be compatible with working
ranches. The easements
typically restrict subdivision
and development but contain
no restrictions on grazing and
allow existing agricultural
practices to continue.
Easements also typically
permit existing and/or reserved
residences and agricultural
buildings. U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service easements purchased
within the proposed Missouri

Headwaters Conservation
Area would not require public
access.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
only purchases easements
from willing sellers. Landowners
always have the right to
accept or reject an easement
offer.
Unlike fee title acquisition,
easements enable the land
to stay on the county tax
rolls because the property
remains in private ownership.
Conservation easements
have proven to be an effective
approach to conserving fish
and wildlife habitat in Montana.
What biological resources will
benefit from this easement
program?
The proposed project area is
a stronghold for wildlife that
has disappeared from much of
Kyle Cutting/USFWS
their historic range and is the How do I get involved?
centerpiece for connectivity
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
between the Greater
welcomes your questions
Yellowstone Ecosystem, the
and comments! We are
Crown of the Continent, and
accepting comments during
the wilderness of central Idaho.
the public scoping period from
In particular, this area includes
September 20th - November
high priority connectivity and
27th, 2023.
movement corridors for wide-
ranging species such as grizzly
Please submit official written
bear, pronghorn, elk, mule
comments via:
deer and bighorn sheep. River
systems and wetlands in the
Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife
valley bottoms are essential
Service, Attn: Ben Gilles
to many species, including
922 Bootlegger Trail
the few remaining native
Great Falls, MT 59404
populations of Arctic grayling in
OR
the lower 48 states. In addition,
Email: MOHWCA@fws.gov
the intact sage steppe habitat
in this landscape is some of
the highest quality in the nation Visit our website for more
and supports numerous wildlife information:
species, migratory corridors, https://www.fws.gov/
and winter range habitat. project/proposed-missouri-
headwaters-conservation-
area